Apparently killed by a stingray (hit in the chest by a stingray 'barb') while shooting an underwater doco.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060904/ap_on_en_tv/obit_irwin

at least he went the way he lived.

Let's hold off on the crikey jokes.

Here in the States this is currently the lead story on CNN and USA Today.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/04/australia.irwin/index.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-09-04-obit-irwin_x.htm

Paul why is it that you always have bad news for me. First the Oils breakup and now this. Any way I hope you and your family are doing well. Hopefully the next time we get to meet again, it'll be on your turf down there in ACT.

Man this is a shame. He leaves behind a wife and two kids. Very sad.

I really enjoyed the programs Irwin did but I knew from the very start he was asking for it big time. It's a shame that he took such drastic measures to get attention. We wouldn't know his name if not for his highly dangerous antics. I realize he believed in what he was doing but he was obviously a danger junkie too. And the attention he got from his acts made it worse. It's like watching the X Games or even car racing. You know a lot of people are watching hoping to see someone get hurt. That's one of our worst instincts if you ask me. I like to think that I enjoy nature video and I do watch them even without wildmen asking to be killed. But I wonder if I didn't fall into the same danger voyeur category more than I want to believe.

Let's just say nice things, ok?

Besides, there's a ton of people who can wrestle a crocodile. Everybody knows who Steve Irwin is not because of that, but because of the enthusiasm he had for nature. I think that's a much better thing to say upon one's passing.

G'day Chris,

"Paul why is it that you always have bad news for me. First the Oils breakup and now this. Any way I hope you and your family are doing well. Hopefully the next time we get to meet again, it'll be on your turf down there in the ACT."

Must be something about being 'lubricated'....nah it's only 4.30 in the afternoon..sorry about the bad news items.

Mate, everone's great down here...plans for a visit down under?? be sure and let me know, I'd be looking forward to it..

If Irwin had limited himself to wrestling crocs he wouldn't have been where he was when he got speared by a stingray. He did far more than just wrestle crocs.

Look I really liked the guy but his fame really had very little to do with his attitude. It was his dangerous antics. He tackled a live wild boar. He grabbed a black momba by the tail and yanked it around. People thought he was nuts for doing that and he stopped being so dangerous for a while after that because he knew how bad his danger jones had gotten.

His early shows didn't revolve around his attitude. They showed him allowing incredibly dangerous snakes to crawl down his shirt 5 hours on foot and a motorcycle from the nearest hospital. That was his first show he did for Discovery. He then went on a quest to handle the 10 most dangerous snakes in the world. I saw him sweating bullets before I ever heard him say crickey.

I enjoyed his shows and I enjoyed some of the danger but it was obvious he went too far to gain notoriety. Lots of people have good attitudes. They don't become famous for it. Irwin became famous for the danger. The attitude became almost a clown act after the danger aspect became too much for him.

I'm trying not to be too critical here but the guy led us all down a dark path IMO. We paid him to risk his life and he paid for it dearly. He did die doing these things. Isn't that proof he was going too far? Was he pushing the limit to renew sagging ratings?

I truly hope you're not saying he deserved to die, because that's how it sounds like. If you are not, what is your point?


Steve R.I.P.

My point was he shouldn't have been so reckless and we shouldn't have rewarded him for it. If I had meant "he deserved to die" then that's just what I would have said.

Just so you know. I hated to see the guy get killed because I really liked him and his attitude including his devil may care approach to reality. It closely matches my own in many ways. You have no idea how much this is true.

I don't like the feeling I'm responsible in any way for encouraging the guy to get too carried away. I didn't want him to be that reckless. I'm mad at him for being too reckless. I'm mad at myself for encouraging him.

Okay, I had to seriously edit the 2 posts above this one.

Michael: just because someone has a different point of view or opinion is no
reason to shoot him down for it. This behaviour is NOT tolerated here
on DV Info Net!

Jeff: I edited your post as well since you commented on stuff that's now gone.

I understand everyone may get into a bit of heated discussion over the death
of such a colorful person, but do stick to the board's rules!

KEEP IT CIVIL!

As to Steve, rest in peace and all the best to the people who he left behind
in these difficult times.

I just removed a meta-discussion post. Locking the thread for now; Chris can decide if and when to unlock it.

According to NY Times, he took a Sting Ray Barb through the chest while diving in Australia.

Joe I'm afraid you're about twelve hours late with this news, so I've merged your post in with the original thread started by Paul Hackett late last night.

Thread re-opened for now.

The best thing about Irwin's copious library of videotaped adventures is that his wife and children now have hundreds if not thousands of hours of images and sounds with which to remember him.

Irwin's great legacy will not be his televised exploits, but rather his tireless efforts and notable successes in the realm of wildlife conservation not only in his native Australia but also throughout the world. He has done more than his share to promote effective and sensible conservation as well as environmental awareness and I for one look forward to Irwin's family and staff (and hopefully many other folks) picking up his work in that realm and expanding his significant contributions which are helping to preserve a broad variety of natural animal habitats and other ecological concerns.

According to NY Times, he took a Sting Ray Barb through the chest while diving in Australia.


Reports are that the barb pierced his heart. If so, there was probably nothing that could be done, as the poison of the barb would have seriously stressed the heart even if the hole could partially close and slow the bleeding and real help had been near.

He will be missed by all. What a great guy and great personality! His work, films and legacy will live on.

Mike

Just so people don't think I'm all alone in thinking what I do here's an article where people say the same things I do. (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23365590-details/Crocodile+hunter+was+victim+of+'voyeuristic+wildlife+TV'/article.do) Some quotes from the article are:

He (survival expert Ray Mears) said: "He clearly took a lot of risks and television encouraged him to do that.

"It's a shame that television audiences need that to be attracted to wildlife.

jeff, if you really want to debate the way steve irwin lived, you should move that discussion over to this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=60427

where there is already a continuing and ongoing discussion of wildlife ethics and the moving image. look through the thread, this has been hashed out on many levels by people who do this sort of work and have respectful disagreements about these same practices. you might find it pretty interesting, given your strong views. we could probably use your voice added to that discussion, if you find you have something new to contribute. (a steve irwin discussion of what he was doing in his work--not just a rundown of judgments but some actual analysis--would be an interesting addition....).

I've read a lot of that thread already Meryem. I think most of what I think has already been expressed there. Not being a pro I didn't think I needed to chime in. The people there have thought about the issues a lot more than I have. I try not to interfere too much with wildlife when I do shoot video which is just for my enjoyment. I'm not someone who jumps in and wrestles a beaver or anything. :)

The people there have thought about the issues a lot more than I have.

i'd have to agree with you on that! i feel the same way. i've learned a bunch from eavesdropping on some of the naturalist videographers that have chimed in on the topic...some folks who really know the inner workings of the animal kingdom. me, i just live among 'em here in colorado...currently trying creative ways of wrestling/trapping a juvenile raccoon out of my cramped attic space and it's about as close as i want to get to the claws....the ongoing micro-saga gives me a lot of respect for the steve irwin-types...

I can offer some advice on the coon. You have to block it's access some way. Of course you have to make sure it's outside before blocking it off. It can't stay in there all the time. It will go out probably at night to eat. That's when you block off it's access. Likely as not if you don't stop it now you will have a family of 100 pound rats in the near future. Coons can be VERY aggressive at times too. They are a lot more dangerous than most people think.

Sorry about the hijacking here.

Interestingly, I think my nine year old son was more distressed about the news of Crocodile Steve's death more than he was about his Grandma's death last year.

I am an Aussie in the industry that can assure you that the accident was a freak one, and unrelated to what he was doing which was making a doco on tiger sharks.
There have only ever been 17 reported deaths worldwide from rays, and only 2 in Australia, the ray just freaked out at the crew and flicked its tail up and out of the water where Steve was standing and left the barb in his heart. Horrible way to go, but ironically not from him handling the animal, or documenting it.

Chris nailed this one...this guy lived in the same house as he did before he started doing these shows. He did it to educate people about the animals that he loved. Much of the money he made went to buy land to secure habitats for wildlife. In my opinion he was the single most important conservation figure of his generation right up there with Jane Goodall. He went about it in a different way, but in a time when people are so wrapped up in their onw lives he got their attention and made them give a damn. He did make a difference changed peoples attitudes about relationships between wildlife and people. We will be missed!

Chris nailed this one...this guy lived in the same house as he did before he started doing these shows. He did it to educate people about the animals that he loved. Much of the money he made went to buy land to secure habitats for wildlife. In my opinion he was the single most important conservation figure of his generation right up there with Jane Goodall.Thank you for that post. I feel the same. He never succumbed to the "hollywood" syndrome and was one of the most REAL people out there. It is very sad that people still have to nitpick at his methodology even after his death. Wildlife is dangerous period, regardless, he didn't deserve such an untimely death. It is more sad that the U.S. audience practically banished him over the baby incident. LONG LIVE REAL PEOPLE, RIP Steve. We already miss you.

Chris nailed this one...this guy lived in the same house as he did before he started doing these shows. He did it to educate people about the animals that he loved. Much of the money he made went to buy land to secure habitats for wildlife. In my opinion he was the single most important conservation figure of his generation right up there with Jane Goodall. He went about it in a different way, but in a time when people are so wrapped up in their onw lives he got their attention and made them give a damn. He did make a difference changed peoples attitudes about relationships between wildlife and people. We will be missed!

Thank you for that post. I feel the same. He never succumbed to the "hollywood" syndrome and was one of the most REAL people out there. It is very sad that people still have to nitpick at his methodology even after his death. Wildlife is dangerous period, regardless, he didn't deserve such an untimely death. It is more sad that the U.S. audience practically banished him over the baby incident. LONG LIVE REAL PEOPLE, RIP Steve. We already miss you.These 2 posts say it all!

About the people who nitpick on his methods, have you ever noticed most of them are involved with some sort of wild life filming or work in general? Yeah, most of them make a living with wild life. What does that tell you? I will tell you, I smell jealousy and a “why didn’t I think of that first” syndrome. Because he was original, he was famous and was making millions. But the audience loved him and that’s what matters. The opinion of those people matter as much as the opinion of critics in say how good a movie is. It doesn’t affect it at all!
His criticizers picked on when he hugged the whales like if he was hurting them, a gigantic animal of that proportion. Give me a break. Last time I checked a hug was a gesture or love, which Irwin clearly had lots for wild life. If there was somebody at risk of getting hurt in those situations was Irwin. The animals were never at risk, not the Whales, not the Snakes, not the Crocs, none of them, so I don’t know why all the critic. It can only be because he got rich doing that and people are jealous. There’s no other explanation.
About the crocodile and the baby thing, I can see how a normal member of the audience could think the baby was in danger there, but it really makes me think about people’s photographic skills in this forum when people here say the kid was in danger. Being at least a video enthusiast, not even professional, one should know just by looking at that compressed shot they were using a telephoto focal length to make the croc look closer than it was and make it look like Irwin just dropped the meet chunk in the croc’s mouth while in fact he threw it forward. It was just TV magic. Oldest trick on the book to make things look more risky. When you see the scene from a different camera angle, a side one, you see the croc was actually much farther way and there was no way that croc could snap the baby out of Irwin’s hand and Irwin had a good grip on the baby with his arm completely and firmly around it. The croc would have to be a panther to snap the baby from that distance, but he wasn’t a mutant croc, just a real life one. Those can’t jump 6 feet in the air.
Give Irwin a rest. All those critics can live 200 years and will most likely never live as much as Irwin, or make the difference he did or even accomplish more in life.

R.I.P. Steve. Nevermind the naysayers.

There have only ever been 17 reported deaths worldwide from rays, and only 2 in Australia, the ray just freaked out at the crew and flicked its tail up and out of the water where Steve was standing and left the barb in his heart.

This seems to say that Steve was standing on a boat when the ray speared him and he wasn't swimming above it, as I had previously thought the incident to have occurred. Am I correct in this? If so, it could have happened to anyone on the boat or in any other boat. Perhaps, this is the first time a death has resulted in this exact way? We have to accept that death can come to any of us unannounced and abruptly.

He was swimming, floated directly over the stingray and it struck him in the chest.